Tall Book: A Celebration of Life on High by Arianne Cohen
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(Hardcover)
- Pub. Date: June 2009
- 256pp
- Sales Rank: 5,610
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: June 2009
- Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
- Format: Hardcover, 256pp
- Sales Rank: 5,610
- ISBN-13: 9781596913080
- ISBN: 1596913088
Synopsis
Tall people: Smart. Wealthy. Successful. U.S. Presidents, Oscar Winners, NBA players, CEOs.
Scrunched into airplane seats. Unable to find good clothes. Why?
In this, the first book of its kind, Arianne Cohen—all 6’3" of her—takes us on a tour of the tall world, traveling from endocrinologists’ offices to the annual European Tall Club Convention to unlock the mysteries at the center of talldom: why do tall people succeed professionally, financially and intellectually far more than others? Why are tall men the most successful dating and mating group on earth, while tall women have low birth rates? And who the hell is behind those airplane seats?
Part investigation and part personal story, The Tall Book follows Arianne as she circles the globe, meeting the tallest people in the world, questioning them on how to raise a well-adjusted tall kid, and yes, becoming one half of America’s tallest couple.
Lively, witty, and erudite, The Tall Book is a must-read for the tall, the not-so-tall—or anyone searching for the secrets of living the high life.
Publishers Weekly
Though it may in part revere the tall, essayist Cohen proclaims, clearly "society is not built for us." Six-foot-three Cohen (Confessions of a High School Word Nerd) covers many taken-for-granted challenges facing "talls," including public toilets, exercise bikes, doorways, couches and airplanes. Especially complicated is dating; some tall women would never "date down"-that is, a man shorter than they are-while other talls (i.e. men) refuse to date anyone but the short. Being tall costs more, due to expenses like "double-price clothes," "high ceilinged homes," and "the food," but it also pays better: tall people earn approximately 2.5% more per inch. Height also helps get presidents elected; 26 out of the last 30 presidential contests went to the taller candidate. Cohen has been frustrated, ever since she was a 5'3" eight-year-old that no one has written a book about tall people ("The Dewey Decimal index didn't even assign a classification number to tall people. Surely the world kidded"). She fixes that problem handily with a guide both practical and proud, and with enough self-deprecating humor to charm readers of any height; an ideal gift for talls, their loved ones, and (perhaps) their jealous detractors.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Biography
Arianne Cohen is a writer for New York and Marie Claire magazines. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, O, Real Simple, Redbook, Health, Nerve.com, and the New York Times Magazine. A 2003 graduate of Harvard University, she is also the author of Help, It’s Broken!: A Fix-It Bible for the Repair-Impaired and the coeditor of the essay book Confessions of a Word Nerd. She previously used her 6'3" frame as a nationallevel swimmer, and now lives the tall life in New York City with her 7'2" partner, whom she met researching this book. They are perhaps the country’s tallest couple
Customer Reviews
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Just Great!by GraceEA
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November 04, 2009: The Tall Book is such a great collection of anecdotes, facts, and spot-on references to the sometimes awkward but always glorious life of tall people. I don't think Arianne was trying to place tall people in a "holier-than-thou" position but rather allow people a glimpse into the life of the seldom-studied existence of a tall individual. I have found that height is one of the few physical characteristics that complete strangers feel justified in commenting on and that is just part of the quirky existence that tall people live that Arianne accurately portrays. This is such a refreshing read and the research is fascinating and has been the source for many of my dinner table conversations over the last few weeks. It would be an amazing gift for any tall person in your life, especially young girls who find that they're growing faster than the boys around them. It's a great read and I highly recommend it!
Weird. Reads like an Arian Race take on Tallnessby Anonymous
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September 02, 2009: Almost every ad and summary for this begins with the words "Smarter" "Richer" "Better" "More Successful" "Makes More Money" "CEOs!" "Oscar Winners!" There is so much "We are the superior race" stuff put forth that it's a little creepy. I am sure that being unusually tall comes with a fair amount of awkwardness and discomfort and ridicule in childhood, HOWEVER, the STATISTICS (and statistics are what Cohen is clearly obsessed with here) point to the fact that it is unusally SHORT of SMALL people who suffer more in a society. Try being a "little person" or, if you want to use the rougher word, "midget" for a week, Miss Cohen, and then come back with a new work. The emotional distress suffered by markedly small people is much greater. So, get used to being scrunched into an airport seat. I'm sure that most of those brilliant CEOs and athletes and people "who make more money" can BUY their own plane to solve this terrible, terrible problem. Think about how it feels when you can't reach a doorknob. And beyond extremely small people, societies in general put more emotional strain on the label of "small" and "short." Even the word "short" is seen as a nasty word, while "tall" is seen as affirming. I don't know what the book is trying to do. Is Cohen trying to convince us that "tall people are better than you"? Don't worry. Advertising has already been doing that for years. If tall women weren't already given a priority in society's eyes, you would have 5 foot tall models. This book was a really sick book in a lot of ways, and I'm surprised that the publisher was idiotic enough to push the "tall people are smarter and make more money than you" weird propoganda. And as to the writing-- like a child's book.
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